Trey - Shandi Boyes Page 0,64
through Nikolai’s door a mere second before it swings open. When I see his girl splayed on his bed, barely covered by a sheet, I drop my eyes to my boots, aware even I would kill my number two if he saw K like that. My fists twitched for a smashing when Nero peered into my room earlier, and K’s body was hidden by one of my shirts.
“What is it?” Nikolai asks when he spots the annoyed expression crossing my face.
Just like my conversation with Nero, I keep things basic. “Alexei. He’s heading to P’s.”
“The men—”
“Suiting up now. Armor was restocked when you kicked us out of Justine’s apartment. We’ve got plenty of ammunition, but I suggest we still go in quietly. We’ll need less men if he doesn’t know we’re coming.”
Most people think there’s only one route to the Popov mansion.
They’re wrong.
Why go around when you can go over?
“How many?”
I shrug. “Nero didn’t give me a number. Last count, the Vasilievs were sitting at around thirty or so men. Fifty when the coke is good.”
That’s where Alexei went wrong. He secured the loyalty of his crew with drugs instead of respect. He doesn’t give a fuck about his men or the whores who service them after a hard day, and they know it.
I kind of wish Nikolai was the same when he says, “I’ll lead the men in. Have the quads fueled and ready to go, then take up comms. The last thing we want is the feds interrupting a turf war.”
“I’m not doing comms—” Nikolai cuts me off with a stern glare. Usually, it would have me backing down in an instant—this is his sanction, so he can do with it as he pleases—but that excuse won’t fly today. “Nero said the word on the street is Alexei is doing this because he wants me. If that’s true, he won’t stop until he gets me.”
“He won’t get you, Trey. He’ll kill you.” He locks his eyes with mine. They’re more sparked with worry than fortified with the hate they are generally fired by. “You were acting on my orders, which means retribution for Tristan’s death belongs on my shoulders.”
“Nik—”
“Don’t make me take this decision out of your hands, Trey. You either stay here as I am requesting, or our truce will be over. Don’t you know princes from different realms can’t be friends?”
He doesn’t mean what he’s saying. He’s just stressed, that’s all. We’re brothers. Allies. Best friends. That’s why he’s dealing me the hand he is. He’d rather have me as his enemy than see me buried. It’s his fucked-up way of saying he cares about me.
“Get the quads fueled up but tell the men to hold until I’m ready.” Stealing my chance to put forward a better argument, he shuts the door in my face.
I’m barely halfway to the weaponry room decked out with enough equipment for three wars when Nikolai and Justine nip at my heels. Nikolai’s speed is so fierce, Justine has to jog to keep up with him. Her panicked expression grows when Nikolai tells her she’s to stay with me, and under no circumstances is she to leave Clarks.
While my brothers strap AK-47s to their chests and don army paint like real-life motherfucking marines, I crack open a laptop and hack into the Las Vegas PD’s command center. I knew jack shit about computers only a few months ago, but the head operative of the firm Nikolai hired for security showed me a few pointers. Tapping into a scanner radio takes barely ten seconds.
The bustling space descends into silence when Justine shouts, “I can’t help you if I’m left in the dark! Tell me what’s happening!” She has the eye of everyone in the room, but there’s only one pair she’s seeking. Nikolai’s. “Please, Nikolai. I want to help.”
“We roll out in thirty,” Nikolai tells the men frozen and gawking. His wording couldn’t be more perfect. Not only does it lessen the heat of their wrath on Justine, but it also gets their heads back into game mode. Alexei is a moron, but it doesn’t take much more than that to fire a gun.
After inconspicuously requesting for me to join them, Nikolai strays his eyes to Justine. “Ahren—”
“What’s going on?” she interrupts, almost sobbing.
Shock rains down on me when Nikolai picks honesty over deceit. It’s a rarity for him when he’s dealing with the opposite sex. “The Popov compound is moments from being stormed.”
“By whom? If it’s the authorities, I can help.